Thailand is known
to be one of Asian countries experiencing a rapid economic growth; the fact of which the
Thai government and business sector are so proud of. But the question here is:
whether all segments of Thai population equally enjoy the economic prosperity of the
country!

It seems that the Thai
government's urgent attempt is to bring the country into being a newly industrialized
country (NIC) by means of promoting unsustainable development. This current policy
has left behind several social problems, namely, unequal income distribution, exploitation
of natural environment, influx of rural migrants into big city due to the demolishing of
rural communities, and the much-concerned prostitution problem. These problems tend
to grow more complicated as the gap widens between the smaller group of population who are
directly benefited from flourishing economy and the majority of disadvantaged people.

It is here and now that the
question of harmonious development arises. Apart from the above obvious problems,
the uneven emphasis on economic development partly results in some other issues of social
concerns being neglected, particularly the education and politics. With so wide the gap
between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups of population, and also the gap between
the growth of economics and other social aspects, it is impossible for a country to evolve
in harmony.

Regarding the political
development, the issue of popular participation has been raised by various Thai social
work forces. The passing of Tambol (sub-district) Council Bill in 1994, allowing the
self-governance by local administrative bodies, is a crucial step towards political
development in Thailand. However, it should not be forgotten that at least three
'political disharmony' incidents in modern Thai society in which violent suppression of
the people occurred, in October 1973, 1976, and in May 1992.

This report deals with the
impacts of the May 1992 Incident upon the people at individual level. We hope that
the attempt of Mahidol University Hotline Centre to search for, record and reveal the
truth concerning the disappeared, the dead and the injured in the May 1992 Incident will
provide substantial historical evidence for the sake of education of present and future
generations. Nevertheless, the facts revealed in this report are only one aspect of
the whole incident. Other aspects of the truth concerning the May tragedy are as yet
to be revealed to fulfill the basic rights of people with the hope that the sad history
will not repeat itself.

In addition, this report is meant
to bridge political and social disharmony by find out the fact, and make know to
public. It is anticipated that lessons learned from the May 1992 Incident will help
generate the awareness of fundamental political rights among people, particularly among
those who are in power. It will also contribute to equitable development for all and
achieving unity for people's progress in the Thai society as well as in Asian societies as
a whole.

The bloody May Event definitely
reveals that at least two basic human rights of Thai people as stipulated in the 1991 Thai
Constitution are violated. They are: (1) right and freedom to take part in a
peaceful public rally or march, and (2) right and freedom to present and to receive
news. During the May Crisis, Gen. Suchinda's government openly exploited
state-controlled television and radio to distort facts about the pro-democracy
rally. Those media presented only one-side information. Apart from blacking
out the front-page news of International Herald Tribune, May 20, 1992 issue, and the
editorial of Bangkok Post of the same date, the government ordered the shut-down of three
other newspapers on May 21. These newspaper's 'crime' was to present the truth!

Another violation of basic human
rights during the May Event is the arrest of over 3,500 people, hundreds of them were
women and children. Many arrested protesters gave the same facts on being tortured
at various degrees from beaten up, left to sit sweltering in sunlight, soaked with
gasoline and with death threatened, and left to starve.

The violation of these two
fundamental rights led to the most severe violation of human rights, namely to kill and
harm unarmed civilians. Reports from the Special House
Committee and the Fact-Finding Committee led by Mr Sophon Rattanakorn2share the same conclusion that Gen. Suchinda's government used excessive
force to crack down the rally.

It is noticeable that facts
concerning the suppression of the pro-democracy protest such as name lists of military
officers and military units responsible for rounding up, killing, and torturing the people
during the Event, are never revealed to the public. It is believed that these facts
were recorded on the report of the Defense Ministry's Fact Finding Committee led by Gen.
Pichit Kullawanit. Such crucial facts are still kept in secret from Thai
people. This is once more a repeating history. Whenever the state commits a
great crime to the people, a chance to bring out the culprits through a fair trial has
never occurred in the Thai political history since 1932.